Close reading of "The Metamorphosis"

I have chosen to do a close reading of the pages 47-48 in Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, beginning with the lines “We have to try to get ride of it” to “…the sister had placed her hand around the father’s neck.” I focus on these lines specifically because I believe that they reflect the true metamorphosis that has taken place in Kafka’s novella.

The scene takes place after the lodgers have announced their departure, done out of fear of Gregor. Grete proposes that the family dispose of Gregor, referring to him as “it.” This pronoun choice is indicative of her dehumanized attitude towards her brother. I find that her resent for having to care for him and the new obligations she has inherited since his recent incapacity are what leads to this anger, seen when “she burst into a violent fit of weeping.” I find this sudden tearing-up s to be a parallel to the start of the piece when Grete was crying due to Winston’s inability to open his door. The weeping at the start is out of fear and worry and the weeping done now as she pounds on the dining table is entrenched in murderous hate.

This selection of The Metamorphosis, shows the finality of the character developments that occurred in this Kafka novella. Firstly, as described before, Grete has transformed into an incensed leader of the family where she proposes plans and answers the questions posed by her family. The father has remained the patriarch of the family, sure to have his voice heard by his repetition of  “If he understood us,” but has the humility to ask his daughter “what are we supposed to do?” His wife is relatively static and her maternal inclinations remain intact with the wiping of tears from her daughter’s face, she is still the care-taker and follower of the family. Gregor is a character most affected by his environment and seeing his family take on the roles of bread-winner he has lost his place in the family. The loss of financial status doesn’t affect his emotional place in that he is still the unloved interloper. Gregor remains his selfless self, able to be exploited by his family members. Grete finds he is so deeply selfless that he “would long since have realized that it’s impossible for people to live side by side with an animal like [himself], and would have gone away of his own free will.”

Explication of "America"

I chose Claude McKay's poem entitled America for its imagery and political inclinations. McKay, a Jamaican immigrant of the Harlem Renaissance, utilizes metaphor to depict his difficult relationship with American society. 

The nation is described as both animal and edifice. According to McKay, America "feeds [him] bread of bitterness, / And sinks into [his] throat her tiger’s tooth." She also is like "a king in state" and building with encompassing "walls." All of these comparisons serve to outline McKay's attitude towards his country of residence. The oppression that McKay experiences is "Stealing [his] breath of life" and also "tests [his] youth." Despite the anger he possesses over the "hate" in America, McKay claims that it is "Giving [him] strength erect against her." This strength stems from his hope for the future of the United States. The speaker states "I gaze into the days ahead, / And see her might and granite wonders there, / Beneath the touch of Time’s unerring hand, / Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand." McKay writes that despite the dark times that America is undergoing he sees the light at the end of the tunnel or the "granite wonders" and "priceless treasures" that are metaphors for future progress towards racial equality. McKay is hopeful enough to see the potential of American society and governance for he makes statements such as "Her vigor flows like tides into my blood" and "Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood." The "vigor" and "bigness" of the US, according to the speaker, is what will allow the nation to move away from discrimination and oppression.

The detailed imagery was what initially caught my eye with this poem and I knew with the title of America that the poem would be politically charged, which is something I'm interested in. Like McKay I can't be cynical when it comes to the future of my nation for I am invested in politics and would like to pursue a job in government. My hope to bring about social change and better this nation is what has inspired me to pick this poem.